ASR Success Story: Document Management Solves Office Space Dilemma

An electronic document management system pays for itself by freeing up office space for more efficient use.

Integrated Solutions, August 2004 Written by Julie Ritzer Ross

Ladd's Agency, Inc. (North Syracuse, NY) is an independent, multiline agency that sells personal, commercial property, and casualty insurance. It also offers life, group health, disability, and long-term care insurance through such companies as Travelers, Selective, Peerless, Preferred Mutual, and Progressive. As the company expanded over the years, so, too, did the amount of paper it was forced to handle. Files filled two areas of its two-story office building, with active files kept upstairs in a large section of the main office and inactive ones packed into boxes stored on the first floor. Retrieving documents was a time-intensive, sometimes frustrating, process.

"Locating files downstairs would take customer service representatives anywhere from 15 minutes to two-and-a-half hours -- if folders could be found at all," said Bob Rowe, Ladd's president. Employee morale often suffered as a result. Busy reps did not like interrupting their work to track down a file that could be in a box below five other 50-pound boxes, nor did they relish aimlessly moving boxes to pull out what they hoped would be the correct file.

Rowe decided change was warranted, not only because of a desire to tame the paper chase and bolster employee morale, but because he wanted to make better use of office space, avoid paying for off-site file storage, and facilitate future expansion.

"At the time, we had been acquiring other insurance agencies at a rate of one per year, and we were planning to continue our acquisitions," he stated. "But the growth hurt, as consolidating the information from the acquired companies typically took several months."

Scanning Eliminates Burdensome Paper Files

In July of 2002, integrator ASR Systems, Inc. (Liverpool, NY) approached Ladd's about migrating from a paper-based filing system to an electronic document management system. Rowe did not shop around for document management technology, as he liked the solution ASR proposed. However, there was one proviso: Rowe insisted that the solution must pay for itself within five years of implementation.

The solution comprises Smeadlink Express software from Smead Manufacturing Co. (Hastings, MN), which was installed on more than 50 previously existing workstations; a Fujitsu (Tokyo) fi-4990C dual-sided color scanner; and an Ultra scanner workstation from Microdata Systems (Syracuse, NY). The software seamlessly integrates with Ladd's proprietary AMS (agency management system) via a link script built by ASR. Deployment and training occurred over a one-week period. Alteration of the AMS' database table structure and refinement of the link script were necessary during a one-week test interval prior to rollout.

Now, paper documents received by Ladd's, whether via traditional mail service or facsimile transmissions, are scanned into the agency's SQL database, which resides on a Dell (Round Rock, TX) PowerEdge 2600 server. Data is then indexed and placed in the correct file for retrieval by customer service representatives using their individual workstations. The software also electronically indexes all e-mail content, which can then be retrieved at the same workstations. Scanning at the scanner workstation occurs at a rate of 90 pages or 180 impressions per minute. Once they are scanned into the system, paper documents are shredded and discarded.

Solution Enables More Efficient Use Of Space

Rowe said Ladd's move to electronic document management has had several positive effects on the business in the past few months. Customer service representatives have immediate access to all files and no longer need to manually input information from the AMS into records with which they are working.

While Rowe has not attempted to quantify the resultant labor savings or increases in the number of files handled daily by each employee, he believes the system will have paid for itself by year-end. That is far sooner than we had hoped," he observed.

Eliminating paper files has also freed up the lower level of the building for rental by another firm at about $700 per month. Space upstairs that previously housed files will be occupied by additional customer service and sales representatives, increasing the agency's profit potential. Additionally, Ladd's recently acquired another insurance agency. According to Rowe, with the document management system, the process of incorporating the acquired agency's files into Ladd's own took one week, instead of the previous average of three months.